Book Shelf: Anomalies by Sadie Turner & Colette Freedman

In the future there is no disease. There is no war. There is no discontent. All citizens are complacent members of the Global Governance. But one summer is about to change everything.

Keeva Tee just turned fifteen. All of her dreams are about to come true. She’s about to make the trip to Monarch Camp to be imprinted with her intended life partner. One day they’ll have perfect kids and a perfect life. But in her happy, carefree life in the Ocean Community, something weighs on her mind. She hears whispers about “anomalies”—citizens who can’t be imprinted. No one knows what happens to them, but they never seem to come back.

When Keeva arrives at Monarch Camp, her worst nightmare becomes a reality—she is an anomaly. After they are imprinted, the people she loves begin to change, and she starts to doubt everything she’s ever believed. What if freedom and individuality have been sacrificed for security? And what if the man who solves all the problems is the very man who’s created them—and what if he isn't a man at all?

When Keeva finds a warning carved under a bunk bed she begins to understand: Nonconformity will be punished, dissent is not an option, insurgents will be destroyed.

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Review:

Anomalies by authors Sadie Turner and Colette Freedman is a delightfully fast paced and well plotted sci-fi tale that is sure to draw readers into its dystopian world with its strong heroine, likable characters and engaging storyline.

Imagine a world where there is no war. No disease. Where people exist in perfect harmony with each other and everyone is happy with their place in life. Well, this world is a reality for fifteen year old Keeva Tee. Years before, nuclear fallout from the Great Technology War saw a man by the name of Sobek Vesely come forth with technology that would forever change the world. Implanted with this technology, people now attend camps at the age of fifteen to be imprinted with their perfect partner. However when Keeva attends the camp her world is shattered when she is deemed an anomaly; someone who can’t be imprinted. Keeva has heard whispers about anomalies and knows that being one means her carefree life and planned future will never be the same. Beginning to notice changes in those she loves after they have been imprinted, Keeva begins to suspect that nothing is as it seems, but nothing could have prepared her for the secrets she learns about her worlds leader, her people and most importantly…….herself.

Have finished Anomalies I have to say that I was impressed. Writing together seems effortless for authors Sadie Turner and Colette Freedman who have constructed a very intriguing sci-fi world. Anomalies is well constructed and paced and easily draws you into the story. Main character Keeva is likable and genuine and someone easy to get behind. The story develops well with Turner and Freedman incorporating plenty of twists to keep you entertained, even if there were a couple I totally saw coming.

Dystopian in a sense, but more sci-fi than anything, Anomalies sets a great base for future books. Keeva’s world is nothing like she thinks it is and I very much enjoyed joining her as she discovered the truth. The difference factions and groups are great to learn about and Sobek Vesely a very tangible villain. Learning of his true heritage and his plans for the world was exciting and I felt Turner and Freedman wove some great developments into the story.

Keeva is supported by a great cast of characters including some fellow anomalies who prove to be great friends to Keeva and supporters of the Underground Resistance. I’d hate to give anything away, but I thought Keeva and her possible love interest had an endearing friendship I would love to see develop into something more.

Well detailed and paced, Anomalies is perfect for fans of Divergent by Veronica Roth and Disruption by Jessica Shirvington. Anomalies with draw you in and hold your attention until the final page. Be prepared to become invested in the characters and story and find yourself begging for more after a bit of a cliffhanger ending!

Rating:
Source: Sent for review by the authors and YA Bound Book Tours (Thanks ladies!)
Format: Kindle ebook
Buy it: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | iTunes
My Recommendation: For fans of sci-fi and dystopian
Cover: This cover's really pretty!
Will I read sequel/continue with series: Yes. Can't wait for more!

Book Blitz: Broken Fate by Jennifer Derrick- Excerpt & Giveawa

Welcome to the Book Blitz for Broken Fate by Jennifer Derrick. Hope you enjoy the excerpt and giveaway I have to share with you today thanks to Xpresso Book Tours. I have to say that boy does this novel sounds fabulous!

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Zeus gave her one simple job: Kill every human. Atropos-daughter of Zeus and the third goddess of Fate from Greek mythology -spends her eternal life snipping human lifelines when their mortal lives are over. As if being a killer doesn't make life miserable enough, she and her Fate-wielding sisters must live amongst the humans on Earth thanks to a long-running feud between their mother and Zeus. Living on Earth means they must mingle with the mortals, attend the local high school, and attempt to fit in-or at least not stand out too much.

Killing and mingling don't mix, which is why Atropos' number-one rule is to avoid all relationships with the humans. Caring for the people she has to kill is a fast track to insanity. However, when Alex Morgan walks into her first-period English class, she knows she's in for trouble. He's the worst kind of human for her to like-one with a rapidly approaching expiration date. And he makes Atropos want to break all the rules.

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Purchase:

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 From Broken Fate......

“I’m only going to get sicker. Days like this, where we can do anything fun are going to be rare. If you spend time with me, you’re going to have to watch me go downhill. Hell, soon, I won’t even be able to go to the bathroom by myself. And then, I’m going to die. Which is fine for me, but you’ll be left behind. That’s a lot of crap to dump on a friend, much less a potential girlfriend.”

 “I understand. Don’t think I didn’t think about all of that, too, because I did. But I’ve decided to deal with what comes when it comes. I can live on a day-to-day basis. I’m pretty strong,” I say.

 “I can see that,” he says. “You’re not like the rest of the kids in school, are you? There’s something inside you that’s different. I just can’t figure out what it is.”

 “Don’t look too hard,” I say. “You’re likely to end up disappointed.”

 “Doubt it.”

 I turn away from the busy birds to face him. He reaches up, gently cupping my face in his hand. I start to pull back, startled, but then I close my eyes and lean into his hand. I can barely remember the last time anyone touched me with such tenderness. 

 “There’s not much love in your life, is there?” he asks, resting his forehead against mine. “You don’t know gentleness.”

 Shaking my head, I keep my eyes closed. I am not going to cry in front of Alex, but he’s breaking down my carefully erected defenses, simply by seeing through them.

 I feel him tilt his head, and his lips touch mine. I resist the urge to run. His lips are soft and tentative, as though he’s afraid I’m going to run away. Or smack him. When I do neither, he intensifies the kiss. 

 I reach up and place my free hand on the back of his neck, twining my fingers in the thick, soft hair at the base of his skull and pulling him closer. He moans softly against my mouth before pulling away. I’m simultaneously disappointed and relieved that he ended it. 

 

Jennifer is a freelance writer and novelist. As a freelancer, she writes everything from technical manuals to articles on personal finance and European-style board games. Her interest in storytelling began when she was six and her parents gave her a typewriter for Christmas and agreed to pay her $.01 per page for any stories she churned out. Such a loose payment system naturally led to a lot of story padding. Broken Fate, her first novel, earned her $2.80 from her parents.

Jennifer lives in North Carolina and, when not writing, can often be found reading, trawling the shelves at the library, playing board games, watching sports, camping, running marathons, and playing with her dog. You can visit her at her official website: www.JenniferDerrick.com

Visit Jennifer:

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Waiting on Wednesday #131

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking The Spine where you can spotlight an upcoming release that you're eagerly anticipating.

This week I'm waiting on.....  

Stealing Snow by Danielle Paige
Releases on: September 27th 2016
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Seventeen-year-old Snow has spent the majority of her life within the walls of the Whittaker Institute, a high security mental hospital in upstate New York. Deep down, she knows she's not crazy and doesn't belong there. When she meets a mysterious, handsome new orderly and dreams about a strange twisted tree she realizes she must escape and figure out who she really is.

Using her trusting friend Bale as a distraction, Snow breaks free and races into the nearby woods. Suddenly, everything isn't what it seems, the line between reality and fantasy begins to blur, and she finds herself in icy Algid--her true home--with witches, thieves, and a strangely alluring boy named Kai, none of whom she's sure she can trust. As secret after secret is revealed, Snow discovers that she is on the run from a royal lineage she's destined to inherit, a father more powerful and ruthless than she could have imagined, and choices of the heart that could change the fate of everything...including Snow's return to the world she once knew.

This breathtaking first volume begins the story of how Snow becomes a villain, a queen, and ultimately a hero.

Thoughts:
This retelling of Snow White sounds absolutely incredible! Honestly; the first sentence has me hankering to get my hands on this book. The cover is stunning and the premise sounds so promising. Fairytale retellings are big right now, and oh so I love them, but I don't recall reading a Snow White one yet. Ready for Stealing Snow to be the first!

Are you a fan of fairytale retellings and do you want to read this?

What are you waiting on this week?

I'm Moving.....House!

Hello wonderful book lovers!

I'm currently in the middle of preparing to move house within the next week or so, so you'll have to forgive me if the blog seems a bit quiet during this time. I'm planning to keep up to date on any already booked Blitzes or Tours but all bets are off with everything else. Between working everyday and packing, reading and blogging have taken a back seat. Especially blogging.

Honestly I'm not a fan of moving at all---I hate the packing and the stress of preparation. So I'm hoping to get back to normal as soon as possible.

Hope you all take care and happy reading!

Book Blitz: Dark & Twisted Games by Heidi Acosta- Teasers and Giveaway

Welcome to the Book Blitz for Dark & Twisted Games by Heidi Acosta thanks to YA Bound Book Tours. I hope you enjoy the promo images and the giveaway I have to share with you today :)

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Nothing ever happens in the small town of Copake Falls, and no one knows that better than sixteen-year-old Eden Day. Her life is a mundane carousal, rotating between caring for her alien obsessed aunt and dealing with her freak status at school. Until two brothers move into town and turn her life completely upside down.

Golden boy, Cardelian Foster is the talk of the town, and it seems his sights set on Eden. However, she finds herself drawn to the dark and elusive Jaxson instead. Caught between her fear of what he might be and her attraction to him, Eden makes it her mission to find out exactly who or what Jaxson Foster is.

Eden begins to dig for the truth, but the deeper she looks, the more her life seems to be in danger. Everyone around her thinks she’s going crazy, and Eden begins to agree until she finds herself pulled into Faeylon—a world that nightmares are made of. Caught in the center of a dark game, Eden realizes there can only be one winner, and she is the prize.

Add on Goodreads or purchase on Amazon!

 



Heidi Acosta was born on Long Island, New York. Moving around a lot when she was younger, she has lived in New York, Arizona, New York (again), Washington, Georgia, and Florida, in that order. Each place offered her something special, but she will always consider New York her home.

Heidi started writing as soon as she could spell. When she was three, Heidi’s mother gave her a copy of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House in the Big Woods; thus beginning her lifelong love affair with literature.

Writing soon also became a form of therapy for Heidi, when she realized that no matter what was happening in her life, she could find emotional escape while writing. Some of her earliest stories featured her as a princess who explored new worlds with her horse Buttercup. If it sounds romantic, it wasn’t, there was no prince charming in those fairy lands (boys where yucky). Heidi now resides in Florida with her husband, very active daughter, one hyper Chihuahua, two sweet cats, and one very fat moody cat.

Barbie Girl is the first Novel of Heidi’s new, four-book, Baby Doll Series: Barbie Girl, Barbie World, Doll Face, and Southern Sugar.

Visit Heidi:

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Book Shelf: Rebel of the Sands (Rebel of the Sands #1) by Alwyn Hamilton

"Tell me that and we'll go. Right now. Save ourselves and leave this place to burn. Tell me that's how you want your story to go and we'll write it straight across the sand."

Dustwalk is an unforgiving, dead-end town. It's not the place to be poor or orphaned or female. And yet Amani Al'Hiza must call it 'home'.

Amani wants to escape and see the world she's heard about in campfire stories.

Then a foreigner with no name turns up, and with him she has the chance to run.

But the desert plains are full of dangerous magic. The Sultan's army is on the rise and Amani is soon caught at the heart of a fearless rebellion...

An epic story of swirling desert sands, love, magic and revolution.

More info on Goodreads......


Review:

Rebel of the Sands is Alwyn Hamilton’s debut novel and is a rich and vivid mingling of American and Arabian fantasy and is full of magic, mayhem and monsters. Romance blooms, dangers grow and a rebellion is on the rise……

Set in the desert nation of Miraji, sixteen year old Amani is from the dead-end town of Dustwalk. An orphan who is facing the possibility of being married off to her uncle, Amani has plans to escape and venture into the city her late mother spoke of, but first she must earn the money to do so. Entering a shooting contest disguised as a boy, Amani finds herself drawn to a mysterious foreigner named Jin who is wanted for treason and who is hiding a big secret. Relying on Jin is the last thing Amani wants, but when her plans sour, escaping with him is her only option; the start of a journey Amani could never have expected but that will change her world forever……

I was very impressed with Rebel of the Sands. The whole story was well written, the characters strong and the world building spot on; the lands within Rebel of the Sands were lusciously told and described. For a debut novelist, Alwyn Hamilton clearly has a good grasp on her world and mixes plenty of fabulous mythology and monsters with danger, action and romance.

The nation of Miraji is a desert land in the vein of Arabian nights, and even Disney’s Aladdin. Sun, sand and the desert make up the harsh and unforgiving world our heroine lives in where mystical beasts lurk and creatures of legend come to life. Djinn, ghouls and demons mix with more unique creatures known as Nightmares, Skinwalkers, Buraqi (powerful immortal horses made of fire and sand) and Demdji (the children of Djinn and mortal mothers). Nothing is as it seems in this barren land ruled by a Sultan who conspires with the neighbouring lands military and who fights to keep his exiled son from returning to Miraji and taking power.

Told through the eyes of Amani, Rebel of the Sands is a fast paced novel with plenty of entertaining scenes, characters and situations. Amani, who often disguises herself as a boy, is a strong leading character who grows a fair amount in this first novel. A talented shooter, Amani takes risks and dares to want more from life than marrying her uncle. In the beginning of the novel she’s slow to trust and quick to put herself first (mainly due to fear and her survival instincts) but as the story progresses she begins to trust and care for Jin, and to fight for something bigger than herself.

Rebel of the Sands is often an unexpected read, with enough twists and developments to keep you on your toes. Hamilton does a good job setting the stage for the rest of the series with you as the reader left wanting to know what will happen now that certain revelations have come to light.

Fast paced and exciting, Rebel of the Sands is an enjoyable read that will satisfy those who love seeing magic mixed with romance, action and danger. Ending well, but with plenty of options for the sequel, I look forward to seeing what Alwyn Hamilton does with the series next!

Rating:
Source: Sent for review by Bloomsbury (Thank you guys!)
Format: Paperback
Buy it: Bookworld | The Nile | The Book Depository | Amazon
My Recommendation: For fantasy fans
Cover: The paperback cover I received for review was really awesome--the gold sparkled and shined.
Will I read sequel/continue with series: Yes. I would definitely read more.

Book Blitz: Artificial by Jadah McCoy- Teaser & Giveaway

I've got the Book Blitz for Artificial by Jadah McCoy on the blog today thanks to YA Bound Book Tours! Personally I think this book sounds quite good, so I'm happy to share teaser images and a tour wide giveaway with you guys.

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She struggles to feel human.

In 2256, the only remnants of civilization on Earth’s first colonized planet, Kepler, are the plant-covered buildings and the nocturnal, genetically spliced bug-people nesting within them: the Cull. During the day, Syl leaves her home in the sewers beneath Elite City to scavenge for food, but at night the Cull come looking for a meal of their own. Syl thought gene splicing died with the Android War a century ago. She thought the bugs could be exterminated, Elite city rebuilt, and the population replenished. She’s wrong.

Whoever engineered the Cull isn’t done playing God. Syl is abducted and tortured in horrific experiments which result in her own DNA being spliced, slowly turning her into one of the bugs. Now she must find a cure and stop the person responsible before every remaining man, woman, and child on Kepler is transformed into the abomination they fear.

He struggles not to.

For Bastion, being an android in the sex industry isn’t so bad. Clubbing beneath the streets of New Elite by day and seducing the rich by night isn’t an altogether undesirable occupation. But every day a new android cadaver appears in the slum gutters, and each caved in metal skull and heap of mangled wires whittles away at him.

Glitches—androids with empathy—are being murdered, their models discontinued and strung up as a warning. Show emotion, you die. Good thing Bastion can keep a secret, or he would be the next body lining the street.

He can almost live with hiding his emotions. That is, until a girl shows up in the slums—a human girl, who claims she was an experiment. And in New Elite, being a human is even worse than being a Glitch. Now Bastion must help the girl escape before he becomes victim to his too-human emotions, one way or another.

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Pre-order:

Amazon (Kindle) | Amazon (Paperback) | Barnes & Noble

 

In Her Own Words: I currently live in Nashville and babysit attorneys for a living. My debut NA sci-fi, Artificial, is forthcoming from Curiosity Quills Press.

Visit Jadah:

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